Oh No the Beach is Closing!
By lipply on Sep 3, 2008 in Uncategorized
This is the body of an email we got today:
-
WE WERE AT FRED HOWARD BEACH TODAY AND ENJOYED OURSELVES …….
WE SAW A BIG SIGN SAYING THAT THE BEACH IS TO BE CLOSED STARTING SEPT.2 AND CLOSED TILL
NEXT YEAR……
WHAT IS GOING ON……??????
First I checked to see if they were a past customer or an Internet lead of ours and I can’t find that they are. It’s funny how people find our website for odd things and think we are the expert on these matters. I could tell tons of funny stories here, but I will save that for another post.
Oh well, I do know something about this beach closing, hence the reason for this blog post. Here goes:
Fred Howard Park - Tarpon Springs best beach is closing for 15 months. Apparently the bridges are 40 years old and are in need of repair. So the beach and the causeway will close starting September 2, 2008. No one is happy about it. After all, this is the best beach in the area and it’s free. There’s no entrance charge and no parking charges. It’s easy to get in and out of and surprisingly, it doesn’t get over-crowded to the point where you can’t get a parking space. Many people who have bought homes in Tarpon Springs or live nearby frequent this beach everyday.
The bridges were built in 1968 and while they look fine to most people, I am in favor of safe bridges. Good grief, 2.1 million people travel on them each year by car, bike and foot. Many people hang out and fish on the bridges, and I am sure that no one wants to end up in the water.
$4.8 million have been allocated for the reconstruction, and the beach and the causeway will be off limits until sometime in 2009. But once it’s open, they tell us it will be open for another 40 years.
The park portion of the total 155 acres will remain open including all picnic shelters and playgrounds. How about a good old fashioned picnic?
5 Comment(s)
By Log Kits on Sep 4, 2008 | Reply
I am surprised they have not done any reconstruction before now. 1968 is a very long time to not go with big remodeling.
It should be nice when it is done.
By Tampa Real Estate on Sep 5, 2008 | Reply
You’re right, it does seem like a long time!
By Summit NJ Real Estate on Sep 9, 2008 | Reply
Yeah, that does seem like a long time.
Funny I just had my son up in Minnesota and I took him to a place called park point on lake superior. My son is 10 and could see about 6o kids who were older then him jumping off this 2 story above the water tall chunk of cement out in the lake. He really wanted to swim out to it, and I told him to go ahead and try, knowing full well that the water temperature at the end of august is 43 degrees. Just as I thought, as soon as he got his whole body in the water, he changed his mind.
By Ismail on Sep 9, 2008 | Reply
Couldn’t they use a temporary bridge until the bridge is reconstructed ? this is what they do here in Dubai. Shutting down a beach for a whole year is not a smart move.
By Emily in Austin on Sep 20, 2008 | Reply
Wow, no work on the bridges since 1968? Good thing they are shutting down now to reconstruct before the bridges collapse. No matter how sturdy a bridge, anything that gets that must usage is bound to need help after 40 years! I know being closed for so long won’t help real estate in the area, but perhaps the market will be even better there after the repairs and once things are reopened.